Finding a parking spot in Swiss towns and cities
Parking in smaller towns is mostly not a problem. Traffic can be complex in the city centers of larger towns though. Streets are narrow, and there’s lots of traffic and lots of one-way streets. Parking can be hard to find. There’s a good alternative: drive to a nearby town or suburb and take the train, tram or bus from there.
Free parking with and without a parking disc
Free parking space can mostly be found in smaller towns or suburbs, for example at shopping centers, hotel car parks (for guests only), or in the street. There are time-limited free blue parking zones as well.
Parking in blue zones with a parking disc
Blue zones are marked with blue lines and signs. You can park there for free for one hour, if you use a parking disc. The disc must be used Monday through Saturday between 8:00 AM and 7:00 PM. Exceptions may apply, so pay attention to the information boards in the parking lot.
Make sure to have a valid parking disc in your car. It must be blue and at least 11 cm wide and 15 cm high. Other versions are not valid. Parking discs are available online, e.g. Amazon, or from gas stations.
The disc can be used in other countries as well, e.g. in Germany. Rental cars should have a disc on board.
This is how to use a parking disc in Switzerland:
- Indicate your arrival time: rotate the disc to the next half hour. For example: if you arrive at 10:10 AM, rotate it to 10:30 AM.
- Place the disc on the dashboard and make sure it’s clearly visible from the outside.
- Depart no later than one hour after the indicated arrival time. In this example, you should depart at 11:30 AM at the latest. So, depending on your arrival time, your maximum allowed parking time could be 1h29.
It’s not allowed to get back to your car and change your arrival time, in order to park longer.
Parking costs in Switzerland
Paid parking is the norm in Switzerland, especially around popular places like rail stations, hotels and town centers. Even as a hotel guest, you often need to pay for parking separately. Count on CHF 10 to 50 per day. Parking in the larger cities is quite expensive: up to CHF 6 per hour.
Paying is done in several ways:
- Hotel guests can pay for their parking costs during the check-out procedure.
- In a growing number of public parking lots and garages, you can pay with mobile apps, linked to your credit card or bank account. You’ll have to enter your parking lot and parking duration. Examples of apps used in Switzerland are Park Now, ParkingPay, EasyPark, SEPP Parking and TWINT.
- In garages, you’ll often find machines too. Before you leave, you’ll have to enter the parking ticket you received when driving in. You’ll pay in cash or with a debit/credit card.
- Parking meters are used too. The older versions require Swiss coins. Many are digital though. You can enter the number of your parking lot and pay in cash or by debit/credit card.
Parking at rail stations: SBB P+Rail
You can park your car at about 600 parking lots near rail stations. Most of them are paid. Use the SBB website or download the SBB P+Rail app to select a location and to pay in advance. Choose between day passes and payment per hour.
Note that:
- many, but not all rail parking facilities are included in the app.
- advance payment for any location is not the same as making a reservation. So payment does not guarantee that parking space will actually be available.
Monthly or annual subscriptions for specific locations are available. You can best arrange for them at the station’s ticket counter. There are online purchase options too, but those require a SwissPass account. That’s a digital account mostly used by Swiss residents and not needed by tourists.
Other websites of interest
- www.parking.ch: places to park in Switzerland
- www.astra.admin.ch: official parking disc regulations
- www.sbb.ch: SBB P+Rail